Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 October 2019
85. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to reform the Good Friday Agreement as it applies to the voting mechanism and petition of concern in particular. [43599/19]
View answerThe Government’s consistent objective - in successive talks processes at Stormont and in the context of the Brexit negotiations - has been to support the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the effective operation of all of its institutions.
In April, the British and Irish Governments established an inclusive multi-party talks process aimed at getting the devolved power-sharing institutions and the North South Ministerial Council operating again.
As part of this talks process, a series of five working groups were convened to discuss in detail the key issues central to making progress, and with a view to getting the institutions operating again in ways that are credible, inclusive and sustainable, in the interests of the community as a whole and learning positively from the experience of their operation in the past.
One of the working groups has focused on reform of the petition of concern. Discussions in this working group have been between the five political parties, and led by a senior member of the Northern Ireland civil service.
For the integrity of the process, the detail of those discussions has not been made public while agreement is still being sought across the range of issues.
The Governments have noted that all political parties engaged constructively through the working groups, and progress has been made.
However, some key outstanding issues remain and finding final agreement on these issues will require genuine and courageous dialogue and leadership by the party leaders in Northern Ireland.
In this context, the political parties, in particular the two largest parties, must live up to their responsibilities and be open to fair and workable compromises on the small number of outstanding issues, to secure the overall interests of people in Northern Ireland and to protect and operate the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement again.
The Government is continuing to work with the British Government to seek to achieve that.
The Governments are determined to use the time immediately ahead to work to get the devolved institutions operating again.
Ultimately the challenge is for the parties to find an agreement. This will be difficult, but the two Governments believe that this can, and must, be achieved.
Accordingly, the Government will continue to do everything possible to support continuing engagement and progress in discussions between the political parties, working with the British Government in any scenario, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.
